September 23, 2003

Re: True Hero
Danny

There are many who deserve the title of Hero. To say that there is only one true hero is like saying that there was only one hero in any war. Each side has heroes who do great acts of heroism and bravery and all of them deserve recognition. They don't only give one congressional medal of honor per war for example.
With that in Mind, I beleive that Frodo is the greatest hero. To say he didn't experience the sorrows of war is a fairly weak statement. He fought a war with the ring every day. He may not have had to fight an army of orcs face to face, but he fought a deadly battle. He sacrificed himself willingly for the good of the rest. He knew before embarking that this quest would mean losing all that he loved. Just read his thoughts when he leaves the Shire never expecting to return. So Frodo made a great sacrifice for the rest of the world. That is the greatest kind of heroism in my mind. Frodo toiled as hard if not harder than any other even when in his mind all hope was lost. Recall that in TTT in the book he sees the armies leave under the command of the Witch King and concludes that there will be noone left to enjoy his victory yet he toils on. So he struggled when all hope was lost, he sacrificed all he had, and in the end his sacrifice was what brought Sauron down. Nothing that any of the other characters in the book did comares to that. The only one who comes close is Sam.

That doesn't mean however that Aragorn, Gandalf, Pippin, and Merry aren't heroes also. They all had important roles and they acted their parts with valor and strength. So I say that there are many heros, but Frodo's willing sacrifice, and his diligence when he beleived there was no hope puts his actions above the rest on the heroism scale.